Sitting exercises in office

(CNN) Five former Memphis Police Department officers pleaded not guilty Friday at their arraignment on criminal charges connected to the January death of Tyre Nichols , whose brutal beating after a police traffic stop was seen on video. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr. each face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Second-degree murder in Tennessee is considered a Class A felony punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison. The former officers are due back in court on May 1. Their attorneys entered not guilty pleas on their behalf. Members of Nichols' family sat in the rear of the courtroom with their attorney Ben Crump. After the pleas in Shelby County Criminal Court, Judge James Jones urged both sides to be patient as the case may take some time. What we know about the public servants involved in Tyre Nichols' death "We … [Read more...] about 5 former Memphis police officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ death plead not guilty

WASHINGTON — In this always-on, always-connected world, what good is a Fitbit with no GPS or an iPad that can’t connect to the cloud? Hint: Ask President Obama. Mr. Obama is the first true gadget geek to occupy the Oval Office, and yet his eagerness to take part in the personal technology revolution is hampered by the secrecy and security challenges that are daily requirements of his job. What counts as must-have features for many people — high-definition cameras, powerful microphones, cloud-connected wireless radios and precise GPS location transmitters — are potential threats when the leader of the free world wants to carry them around. And so using the latest devices means more than merely ordering one on Amazon for delivery to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It means accepting the compromises imposed by White House technology experts, whose mission is to secure the president’s communications, and by the Secret Service agents who protect him. “I am not allowed, for … [Read more...] about For Gadget Geek in the Oval Office, High Tech Has Its Limits

I resisted SoulCycle, the trendy boutique fitness chain, for years. My last indoor cycling experience had been in the 1990s, when spinning was “Spinning,” and my most vivid memories were bruises from the bike seat and an instructor who looked as if he’d forgotten to shed his Lance Armstrong Halloween costume. But in 2011, I was too hugely pregnant to run or dance. One day a friend who worked at Soul, as acolytes called it, invited me along. The class felt less morning-at-the-gym than night-on-the-town: its pounding music, synchronized movement and semidarkness afforded both a sense of security and the thrill of belonging among beautiful people. The experience was orchestrated by the instructor, a title that didn’t do justice to the radiant woman calling out inspirational phrases from her own bike atop a stage illuminated by candles. I didn’t know her, but after 45 minutes, I wanted to hug her. Maybe I wanted to be her. “You did amazing, Natalia,” she told me. I booked another class. … [Read more...] about Goodbye to the Cult of SoulCycle

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. moves into the White House on Wednesday facing many weighty issues: a global pandemic. A crushing recession. Racial injustice. Right-wing extremism. But Mr. Biden’s personal weight-control and exercise regimen will face a different kind of burning question: Can he bring his Peloton bike with him? The answer, cybersecurity experts say, is yes. Sort of. But more on that later. A Peloton , for the uninitiated, is part indoor stationary bike, part social media network. The bikes are expensive — upward of $2,500 apiece — and have tablets attached, enabling riders to livestream or take on-demand classes and communicate with one another. Each rider has a “leader board name,” a unique identifier posted on the screen alongside “output,” a measure of how hard the rider is working. When Mr. Biden was cloistered during the coronavirus surge this spring, The New York Times reported that he began each day “with a workout in an upstairs … [Read more...] about Biden Has a Peloton Bike. That Raises Issues at the White House.

Ali Huberlie , a 27-year-old education consultant in Boston, awakens at 4:45 every morning to go to her CrossFit “box,” or gym, where she spends two hours. When she and her boyfriend, whom she met through CrossFit, went apartment-hunting, they chose a neighborhood near their box. This year, as a student at Harvard Business School, Ms. Huberlie wrote a case study about a founder of CrossFit that was incorporated into the school’s curriculum. And when Harvard Divinity School researchers were studying spaces other than churches that function as spiritual communities, they interviewed Ms. Huberlie. “CrossFit is family, laughter, love and community,” Ms. Huberlie told the researchers, who quoted her in their study, “How We Gather.” “I can’t imagine my life without the people I’ve met through it.” A for-profit gym franchise founded in 2000 that now has 13,000 licensed operators serving at least two million exercisers, CrossFit — like television, sports fandom and health fads — has … [Read more...] about When Some Turn to Church, Others Go to CrossFit

When Greg Glassman resigned earlier this month as chief executive of CrossFit, Inc. , excoriated for comments about George Floyd’s death on Twitter and in a Zoom meeting, people who have worked there were surprised that his downfall was tied to accusations of racism. They had assumed that the reason would be routine and rampant sexual harassment. Interviews with eight former employees, and four CrossFit athletes with strong ties to the company, reveal a management culture rife with overt and vulgar talk about women: their bodies, how much male employees, primarily Mr. Glassman, would like to have sex with them and how lucky the women should feel to have his rabid interest. According to the dozen interviewed, Mr. Glassman, 63, has verbally demeaned women, pulled at their clothes to try to peek at their cleavage and aimed his phone’s camera to snap photos of their breasts while they traveled with him for work (sometimes pressuring them to consider sharing hotel rooms or … [Read more...] about CrossFit Owner Fostered Sexist Company Culture, Workers Say